Acceleration Converter

Frequently Asked Questions

How is acceleration converted?

Everything pivots through m/s². 1 g = 9.80665 m/s², 1 ft/s² = 0.3048 m/s², 1 gal (cm/s²) = 0.01 m/s², 1 km/h/s = 0.2778 m/s².

What is a "g" of acceleration?

One g is standard gravity, 9.80665 m/s². A car doing 0–60 mph in ~5 s averages roughly 0.55 g; sustained 9 g is near human tolerance.

What is the gal unit?

The gal (centimetre per second²) is used in gravimetry and seismology to express small acceleration/gravity variations.

How do km/h/s and mph/s work?

They express how fast speed changes per second in everyday units - e.g. 10 km/h/s means gaining 10 km/h every second (≈2.78 m/s²).

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How This Calculator Works

Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes - metres per second, per second. The SI base unit is the metre per second squared (m÷s²), and every unit here is stored as its exact equivalent in m÷s², so conversion pivots through that base: result = amount × (basePerFrom ÷ basePerTo). The length-based factors are exact: 1 ft = 0.3048 m so 1 ft/s² = 0.3048 m÷s²; 1 in = 0.0254 m so 1 in/s² = 0.0254 m÷s²; 1 gal (the galileo, used in geophysics) = 1 cm/s² = 0.01 m÷s². Standard gravity g is defined as exactly 9.80665 m÷s² - the same constant used for kilogram-force. The speed-change-per-time units fold the speed conversion into one second: 1 (km/h)/s = 1000 ÷ 3600 ≈ 0.27778 m÷s², and 1 (mph)/s = 1609.344 ÷ 3600 ≈ 0.44704 m÷s². All are linear scalings, so the pivot is exact.

Worked Example

A car goes 0–60 mph in 6 seconds - what is that in g? Average acceleration = 60 mph ÷ 6 s = 10 (mph)/s. Step 1: 10 × 0.44704 = 4.4704 m÷s². Step 2: 4.4704 ÷ 9.80665 ≈ 0.456 g. Reverse it: a 3 g fighter-jet turn is 3 × 9.80665 = 29.42 m÷s², or about 96.5 ft/s². A seismometer reading 250 gal equals 250 × 0.01 = 2.5 m÷s² ≈ 0.255 g of ground shaking - a strong earthquake.

Where You Use This

Automotive testers convert 0–60 and braking figures between (mph)/s, m÷s², and g. Aerospace and amusement-ride engineers express loads in g. Seismologists and structural engineers use the galileo (gal) for ground acceleration. Physics students switch between ft/s² and m÷s² in kinematics problems. Sensor and MEMS datasheets often spec full-scale range in g while firmware works in m÷s².

Common Mistakes

g is acceleration, not force: "pulling 5 g" means 5 × 9.80665 m÷s²; multiplying by mass gives the force, which is a separate step.

gal vs g: the galileo (1 cm/s²) and standard gravity g differ by 980.665×; confusing them is a huge error in seismic data.

(km/h)/s vs km/h²: here the time base is seconds; dividing speed by hours instead of seconds is off by 3600.

Using 9.81 for g: the defined value is exactly 9.80665 m÷s²; rounding drifts on precise work.

ft/s² vs ft/s: a velocity is not an acceleration; only the per-second-squared form belongs here.

Reference Factor Table

1 g = 9.80665 m÷s² = 32.17405 ft/s² = 980.665 gal

1 m÷s² = 100 gal = 3.280840 ft/s² = 0.1019716 g

1 ft/s² = 0.3048 m÷s² = 30.48 gal = 0.0310810 g

1 (mph)/s = 0.44704 m÷s² = 1.466667 ft/s² = 0.0455915 g

1 (km/h)/s = 0.2777778 m÷s² = 0.9113444 ft/s²

1 gal = 0.01 m÷s² = 0.0010197 g; strong quake ≈ 0.5 g

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